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Dassault, Gulfstream Increase Presence In Asia

Dassault and Gulfstream are continuing to build up their infrastructure in the Asia Pacific, hoping to capitalize on what they see as one of the fastest growing, yet largely untapped markets in the world.

Dassault is establishing a wholly owned subsidiary, Dassault Falcon Business Services (Beijing) Co. Ltd., in Beijing to provide support services to customers in the region. The Dassault facility will be headed by Jean Michel Jacob as general manager and Jean Rosanvallon as chairman.

Rosanvallon, who is also president and CEO of Dassault Falcon, calls the subsidiary an important step for doing business in China. The subsidiary builds on Dassault’s growing base in the country. The French manufacturer opened a sales and marketing office in Beijing 2010 and another this year in Shanghai. The company also has an office in Hong Kong.

The new subsidiary will establish a customer service headquarters in Beijing, with operations scheduled for early next year. Led by Kathy Liu, director of customer service for Asia, the office will handle spare parts, warranty and FalconCare claims, and coordinate activities of four technical representatives based in Greater China. The office also will include two Falcon pilots to provide support to new and existing Falcon customers.

The support infrastructure comes as Dassault expects the number of Falcons to triple in China by the end of 2012. The French manufacturer sold its first Falcon in China in 2006, and by 2011 the market had “become our largest for new aircraft orders and one of our most promising,” Rosanvallon says.

The Falcon 7X leads those orders, with a backlog of 20 destined for Chinese customers. But Dassault is also seeing strong interest in its 2000S.

Gulfstream, meanwhile, is adding a satellite flight department in Hong Kong. The flight department is in addition to the company’s new joint service center in Beijing that is being established, along with a nearby parts warehouse.

The satellite office will house five pilots – three large-cabin demonstration pilots, one mid-cabin demonstration pilot and a chief pilot type-rated in both large- and mid-cabin aircraft.

The pilots will work with customers and local management companies to transition Gulfstream aircraft into the region. This includes assistance in transiting aircraft to/from the U.S. and providing entry-into-service flying.

The flight department is housed in Gulfstream’s Hong Kong Product Support office, a location that Gulfstream says is centrally located with access to India, Australia, New Zealand and Indonesia.

Gulfstream estimates that nearly 200 of its aircraft are registered in the Asia-Pacific region, and Gulfstream President Larry Flynn has called Asia the leading export market for the Savannah, Ga., business jet maker. The Gulfstream fleet had expanded from zero a little more than a decade ago to more than 80.

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